Henri Fayol was a French mining engineer who developed 14 principles of management. He is considered to be one of the most important contributors to the theory of management.

Principles of Management:

The 14 principles of management developed by Henri Fayol are listed and explained below:

Division of work

Authority and responsibility

Discipline

Unity of command

Unity of direction

Sub-ordination of individual interests to general interest

Remuneration of personnel

Centralisation

Scalar Chain

Order

Equity

Stability of personnel

Initiative

Esprit de corps

1. Division of Work:

In an organisation, work should be divided correctly, according to the time available. The potential of employees increase when they are allowed to do the same work again.

2. Authority and Responsibility:

Authority:

Authority is the power given to a person to command and get work from his sub-ordinates. It is the right given to managers.

Responsibility:

Responsibility is the work expected from workers by their superiors. Wherever authority is present, responsibility occurs.

3. Discipline:

In an organisation, workers should obey the commands of their superiors.

Hence, discipline is very important for any organisation. It promotes leadership and fair dealing.

4. Unity of Command:

A worker should receive commands from only one person. Commands from multiple superiors lead to conflicts and chaos. Hence, unity of command should be maintained.

5. Unity of Direction:

An organisation might contain several groups, each having a head and an individual objective. All the individual objectives should be directed towards a common objective of developing the organisation.

6. Sub-ordination of Individual interests to General interest:

General interest means interest of the organisation. Individual interest means interest of an employee of the organisation. An employee should sub-ordinate his / her individual interest to general interest.

7. Remuneration of Personnel:

Employees should be paid proper wages to maintain the stability of organisation.

8. Centralisation:

An organization is said to be completely centralised if all power rests in the hands of a single person. An organisation is said to be completely decentralised if power is completely distributed among the sub-ordinates. A firm should neither be completely centralised nor be completely decentralised. Centralisation and decentralisation should be balanced.

9. Scalar Chain:

The line of authority should pass from top level management to bottom level management. Orders and policies should always come from higher level management.

10. Order:

In an organisation men and materials should be distributed correctly at the right place in right time. This improves the productivity of the organisation.

Order is of two types:

Material Order

Social Order

11. Equity:

All employees in a firm should be treated equally. Superiors should be fair towards their sub-ordinates.

12. Stability of Personnel:

In a firm, the tenure of employees should be high. High employee turnover rate gives heavy losses to an organisation.

13. Initiative:

If a worker comes up with a new idea or plan, he / she must be encouraged. Initiatives give rise to higher levels of effort.

14. Esprit de Corps:

This signifies the proverb ‘United we stand; Divided we fall’. In a firm, team spirit should be encouraged to promote harmony and unity among workers.

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vinay sharma

i am litl-bit dis-satisfied with equity and intiative thr mst b equlity and motivation ,
don’t you think so sir, if not stsfy me on my qstion pls ?

http://mechteacher.com/ Surjeet S

Motivation is definitely necessary for employees to work perfectly. There are separate motivation theories proposed by several scholars. This article just describes the principles of management defined by Henri Fayol.